Without a knockout blow and even a deal, Tim Walz vs. JD Vance felt like a throwback to a pre-Trump era

The primary goal of candidates in a vice-presidential debate is not to harm the name at the top of the list. JD Vance and Tim Walz passed this test with flying colors.

In fact, this debate was more substantive, more policy-oriented and certainly more cordial than anything we have heard. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris face to face last month.

The running mates largely listened and answered the moderators’ questions, rather than offering pre-packaged and reheated talking points.

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It felt like a throwback to a pre-Trump debate era, when candidates were allowed to be civil and, shock-horror, even briefly agree with those at the other lectern.

Vance is the most interviewed of the four presidential candidates or running mates this year, appearing regularly on cable television in the United States and in early exchanges he was revealing.

He was skillful and authoritative, unlike Waltz who showed early signs of nervousness, stumbling over his words.

In Walz’s first response regarding the Middle East crisis, he appeared to confuse Israel and Iran twice, at one point referring to “Israel and its proxies.”

But the man from Minnesota – as he so often reminded viewers – quickly found his way, peppering his responses with calls to the “people” of his country. He looked into the camera while delivering everyone’s schtick, which was the main reason Kamala Harris chose him as her vice presidential candidate.

“I misspoke,” Walz said when criticized for his inaccurate statement that he was teaching in Hong Kong at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre (news reports say he was, in fact, in Nebraska ).

“I’m a jerk sometimes,” he added as if to say: you and I are the same, you forget your keys in the car, and I forget that I was in the Midwest and not in the middle of a of the most significant events in recent memory.

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Team Walz may have expected Vance to take on his “attack dog” persona, but this was a gentler, level-headed, and even sympathetic performance from Trump’s understudy, specifically designed to appeal to the independent voter.

He began by thanking CBS for organizing the debate and the viewers “caring enough about this country” to be able to listen to it.

He expressed concern for Tim Walz’s 17-year-old son, who witnessed a shooting while playing volleyball. “I didn’t realize your son witnessed a shooting,” he said, “it’s horrible.”

Even on abortion – one of the thorniest issues for Republicans – he tried to appear moderate.

“This is about health care,” he said. I just want to “make it easier for moms to have the means to have babies,” he insisted while asserting that he had never called for a federal ban on abortion.

In fact, Vance has previously expressed support for a bill banning abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Walz used the opportune moment to seize the debate over reproductive rights, one of the Democratic Party’s loudest rallying cries.

He told the tragic story of Amber Thurman, a woman who died because she did not have access to legal abortions and timely medical care due to Georgia’s abortion ban.

This is an incredibly powerful and moving story that Democrats are using on the campaign trail to highlight Donald Trump’s role in overturning Roe v Wade, which gave women the constitutional right to choose.

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There was no knockout for either candidate and, as with all vice presidential debates, this is unlikely to change the polls or alter the dynamics of the election race .

But the fact that JD Vance did so well on the undercard might just tempt Donald Trump to accept the offer of another fight against Kamala Harris because – as we well know – he doesn’t like to be overshadowed.